Devin Logan: Recovered And Ready

Devin Logan competes in the slopestyle skiing women's final during the Winter Games New Zealand at Snow Park on Aug. 18, 2011 in Wanaka, New Zealand.

Devin Logan poses in front of the American flag at the USOC/NBC
promotional shoot in late April 2013 in West Hollywood, Calif.

Freeskier Devin Logan may have learned everything she knows on the mountain from her two older brothers — pro skiers Sean and Chris — but it was her mom who taught the youngest of five everything she knows about handling a hectic lifestyle. Her busy single mother had to juggle many hats, including “mom, dad, soccer coach, cook, chauffeur. She’s been it all,” Devin Logan said.

And now Logan is returning the favor. “Anything I can do to help her is just awesome,” she said. Even if anything includes putting in time at her mom’s candle store, the Wilmington Candle Company, back home in Vermont.

“About four or five years ago she began her business and started making candles,” Logan said. “Now she makes a bunch of fun things, and everything by hand: soaps, car fresheners, lotions, bath soaps, anything you can possibly think of. Every time I go in there I just go around smelling everything.”

From as early as the age of 7, Logan’s mom knew she was going to be a full-time skier — it was even reflected in her drawings as a kid. As a result mom knows not to expect her to take over the candle business one day.

“She’s tried to teach me how to make candles but I kind of leave it up to her because I don’t want to mess anything up,” she said. “Instead I help her move stuff or run the cash register. Anything she really needs I’m there for her. It’s her hobby and I’m having fun helping.“

Shortly after helping her mom launch her candle business, Logan’s own professional career began to take off. In 2011 she made her Winter X Games debut in both halfpipe and slopestyle, earning a silver medal in halfpipe. She then went on to garner other titles in her first season and has since taken the podium more than a dozen times over the course of two years.

However a devastating injury forced her to sit out this past year after blowing out her knee while training in New Zealand last summer. As a result, the talented freeskier — who is best known for the tricks she throws — should be taking it easy. But just like her mom, this girl doesn’t know how to sit still. Doctors just recently gave her the green light to get back to training, but for the past year her “main focus was rehab.”

In an effort to “get my mind off it” and “to keep me from going stir crazy,” she kept busy with things like helping out at her mom’s store. But that wasn’t enough, so she took a few college courses and served as a judge at various ski competitions.

Logan is used to multitasking and says her injury even helped her “juggle everything a little bit.” She is one of few freeskiers who competes in halfpipe skiing as well as slopestyle skiing — both of which will be making their debut at Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

“I think that’s what gives me a good advantage because I can take some tricks from the slopestyle course and bring them to the halfpipe,” she said. “Plus, it’s kind of nice because if I was just a pipe skier I would be training in the pipe every day, and sometimes that gets boring. If you get frustrated it’s nice to be able to switch it up and go over to the park and get a few laps to clear your mind. Otherwise I would be hitting the pipe every day or hitting jumps, jumps, jumps, rails, rails, rails.”

Logan says spending some time behind the judging table has “really helped my perspective of my own skiing.” And now she is finally cleared to compete again, it’s an advantage “having heard exactly what the judges are saying during the runs and seeing how they look at things. I know exactly what the judges want to see and where they want to see me. Hopefully that can bring me to a point where I can win.”

Devin Logan competes in the women's slopestyle final during the U.S.
Freeskiing Grand Prix on March 4, 2012 in Mammoth, Calif.

However, don’t think that means she has Sochi on the brain — at least not yet.

“I’m not really thinking about it at the moment. I’m only 10 months out of knee surgery,” admitting that the word ‘slow’ is in her vocabulary. “I’m just trying to take it slow and not skip any hurdles that could lead to me getting hurt again. I’m thinking about myself so I can be at my best to go to Sochi.”

The one thing her accident did get her thinking about is the future. “It definitely gave me time to think,” she said. “I’ve seen so many people get hurt and my accident made me think about what I want to do after my competitive career. As an athlete, my body hurts all the time. Going into massage therapy and a field that I can connect to would be cool.”

But as she reminds us, she’s got time before having to make any decisions. “I’m still focusing on skiing. Hopefully I can get some more years out of this.” Assuming global warming doesn’t put a stop to her plans.

“I teamed up with the nonprofit group Protect Our Winters, an organization started by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones, which helps enlighten the next generation about global warming and how they can help slow it down,” Logan said.

For example, she said, make sure to turn off your lights when you leave the house, throw your recyclables into a recycling bin and switch off the TV when no one is watching it.

“The littlest things that you don’t think of can build up and mean so much to the environment if you stay on top of it,” she said. As someone who lives on the snow — and loves the white stuff so much she’s collected snow globes since she was little, “It’s awesome to be a part of something that is helping out younger kids so that ultimately we can have more skiers.”